French and Indian War

French and Indian War The Military Struggle

DIRECTIONS: Following each section, there are questions listed. On a separate sheet of paper, copy the questions, and then answer the questions in complete sentences.

The British had no desire to begin a war in America. The last conflict with France, which ended in 1748, had depleted the British treasury, and Parliament refused to impose new taxes. But British leaders, such as William Pitt, 1st earl of Chatham, who were intent on expanding British influence, demanded action. As a result, Britain dispatched two regiments of troops, under Sir Edward Braddock, to America. Eventually, however, many more troops were needed. During the next five years, the government sent thousands of regular troops under a succession of British commanders. In addition, Parliament financed the enlistment and supply of more than 20,000 American troops during the period of heaviest fighting from 1758 to 1760.

1. Who was the British leader who demanded action against the French? 2. Who was in charge of all British troops in America? 3. How many Americans were used from 1758-1760?

The French and Indian War had four distinct phases. The first began with the French capture of Washington and his troops at Fort Necessity in 1754 and lasted until 1756, when war was formally declared. During these two years both Britain and France hoped to avoid a general European war and so committed few troops or resources to the fighting in America. Each side primarily attacked enemy forts in unsettled areas along the frontier.

Two battles of considerable significance did take place during this phase, however. On July 9, 1755, the French ambushed and defeated forces led by British General Edward Braddock at Monongahela River as they attempted to drive the French from Fort Duquesne (pronounced: do-cane). The defeat was costly for the British: General Braddock lost his life, more than 900 of his men were killed or wounded, and British prestige among Native Americans in the region declined. One year later, British and colonial forces offset these losses by victories in Nova Scotia, where they captured two French forts. As a result, the British deported more than 6000 of the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia, known as Acadians, a signal of the growing brutality of the conflict.

1. Where was George Washington captured? 2. When did the war officially begin?

The second phase of the war in America was fought with much larger armies and opened with a series of French victories. In mid-1756 a French force captured the British fort at Oswego in northern New York. The French advance continued in 1757 with a victory over British regulars and New England militia at Fort William Henry, within striking distance of the important fur-trading town of Albany, New York. Then the French offensive faltered.

1. Describe the beginnings of the second phase.

France's regular troops and their Native American allies could not continue the war in populated areas of the British colonies. They had to travel vast distances, where there were few local sources of supply. Most importantly, the small French Canadian population was not large enough to provide food and soldiers for a lengthy campaign.

In the end, the British had the strategic advantage in North America. Britain could call upon a population more than ten times as large to provide troops and supplies for an all-out assault on Canada. The only other necessities were political support from the colonial assemblies, which were provided even though they didn’t want to, and firm direction and financial assistance from the British ministry. Strong support by the British government began after William Pitt became secretary of state in June 1757. Pitt firmly believed the way to defeat France in Europe was to attack French possessions around the world, including India, North America, and the West Indies.

1. What difficulties did French troops have? (at least 2) 2. What advantages did British troops have? (at least 2)

In 1757 Pitt launched the third phase of the war by sending thousands of British troops to America and ordering a direct attack on Canada. A force of 16,000 British and colonial troops advanced from Albany toward Montréal, Canada, in 1758. This expedition, commanded by General James Abercrombie, stalled in the face of French opposition at Fort Ticonderoga in northeastern New York. However, that same year, British and colonial troops under General Jeffrey Amherst did capture the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Additional British victories came at Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, and at Fort Duquesne.

Bolstered by these successes, William Pitt ordered a new British offensive for 1759. He agreed to finance the mobilization of 20,000 colonial troops and elevated Amherst to the command of all British forces in America. Amherst's army promptly continued the advance on Canada, capturing Fort Niagara at the junction of lakes Erie and Ontario and forcing the French to abandon the strategic Fort Ticonderoga. By early August 1759 the French had retreated to their inner line of defense which protected the major cities along the St. Lawrence River.

The British quickly breached these defenses and dispatched a large fleet and an army up the river from Louisbourg. Late in 1759 British troops led by James Wolfe defeated a French army commanded by Louis Joseph Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Véran on the Plains of Abraham, just outside of Québec. The capture of the fortified city of Québec was the climax of the "year of victories" for Great Britain. Only Montréal remained in French hands, and it surrendered to British forces in September 1760.

1. What did Pitt send troops to attack? 2. What caused the French to abandon Fort Ticonderoga? 3. Following defeat at Quebec, what was the only city still in French control?

The fall of Canada began the fourth and last stage of the war. Only minor conflicts continued on the mainland of North America. Many of these occurred between British settlers in the Carolinas and Native American peoples like the Cherokee, who had sided with the French to protect their lands. In Europe, the Seven Years’ War had reached a stalemate, with neither the British nor the French alliances able to dominate.

Warfare ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and the peace terms reflected British military successes. Britain gained control over half the North American continent, including French Canada, all French territorial claims east of the Mississippi River, and Spanish Florida. In return, Britain gave Cuba and the Philippines back to Spain, and France compensated its Spanish ally for the loss of Florida by giving it title to all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River.

The French and Indian War had reduced the once-impressive French empire in North America to a handful of sugar plantations in the West Indies and two rocky islands off the coast of Newfoundland. It also ended the century-long threat of a French or Spanish invasion of the American mainland colonies and ensured that British institutions would dominate in eastern North America. But France’s desire to avenge its humiliating defeat in the war prompted it to provide financial and military aid to the American rebels during the American Revolution. This aid was instrumental in the loss of Britain’s American colonies, but it also contributed to the French financial crisis that climaxed in the French Revolution of 1789.

1. What occurred in Europe in the Seven Years’ War? 2. What treaty ended the French and Indian War and in what year? 3. What French territory did the British gain from the treaty? 4. What lands did the French have left?